MS. PERINO: Sorry I'm late. We just had the announcement out of the
U.N. Security Council about the unanimous vote, so I have something for
you on that. And I have a couple of other things. Let's do the
schedule first and then I'll give you the two statements, all right?

The President, as some of you who were in the pool know, got up very
early and went biking this morning, mountain biking. At 9:30 a.m. he
had his regular briefings. He also taped the weekly radio address; the
topic is Afghanistan and Pakistan working together to fight extremism,
and increasingly good results out of the surge in Iraq.

At 10:15 a.m., the President, along with his father, President Bush 41,
and his brother, Jeb, went out on a boat, probably casting a line.
They're taking advantage of the great outdoors, it's one of the things
that this family loves to do when they come up here in the summertime.
I wouldn't expect a lot more readout out of Walker's Point. They do a
lot of what other families do when they get together for family
vacations --

Q Bicker?

MS. PERINO: Excuse me? Bicker? (Laughter.) Mark, is there something
you want to tell us about your family?

Q Sorry, my mistake.

MS. PERINO: Let's do a statement by the press secretary, which is going
to be me today, Dana Perino. "The President welcomes today's unanimous
vote by the U.N. Security Council to renew the mandate for the United
Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq" -- UNAMI is the acronym, U-N-A-M-I.
"This vote sends an important signal of the U.N. commitment to support
stability and security in Iraq. The UNAMI mandate renewal also
reinforces the broader international framework for Iraq, which includes
international compact with Iraq and the neighbors process, which began
in May in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The United States is fully committed
to this framework and looks forward to working with the United Nations
and international partners to support the Iraqi government and promote
political dialogue in Iraq.

And then a statement by the President on immigration. Before I do that,
some of you know that Secretaries Chertoff and Gutierrez are currently
holding a press conference -- it started at 10:30 a.m., so hopefully
they're probably winding that down -- and this is about a range of
immigration issues and matters that the executive branch can address
going forward, before the end of the President's term.

This is a statement by the President that we will release, as well.
"Today, members of my Cabinet announced a series of important new
administrative actions to address border security and immigration
challenges. These reforms represent steps my administration can take
within the boundaries of existing law to better secure our borders,
improve worksite enforcement, streamline existing temporary worker
programs, and help new immigrants assimilate into American society.

"Although the Congress has not addressed our broken immigration system
by passing comprehensive reform legislation, my administration will
continue to take every possible step to build upon the progress already
made in strengthening our borders, enforcing our worksite laws, keeping
our economy well-supplied with vital workers, and helping new Americans
learn English. I appreciate the work of Secretary Chertoff and
Secretary Gutierrez in implementing these important reforms, which will
improve our security and enrich our nation."

With that, I'll go to questions.

Q Dana, during the debate about comprehensive immigration reform, the
President repeatedly told the public that the system was broken -- you
just repeated it in that statement -- and it was unacceptable. Now we
have these Cabinet members talking about stepped-up enforcement. Why
should people have confidence that this is going to actually make a
difference when the law itself is broken? Isn't this stepped up
enforcement of a broken law?

MS. PERINO: Well, let's take a step back and talk about what we have
initiated under this President under border security while we waited for
Congress to work on border security issues. For example, it was a year
or a year and a half ago that we announced the stepped up border
security enforcement, by increasing the Border Patrol agents by 1,700,
to effectively double the amount of Border Patrol agents that we had in
our system by the time the President left office.* And I think what
you'll find in this announcement today, as well, is that in the
comprehensive reform legislation debate, Senator Judd Gregg had an
amendment to increase that by yet another 2,000 -- I'm sorry, increase
it to a total of 20,000, which we are going to try to attempt to do, as
well.

So even before Congress decided that they weren't going to act on
comprehensive immigration reform, the President was acting on the border
security issue. In addition to that, the President sent down the
National Guard, and that has had quite an impact, as well.

Another thing that we did independently of congressional action was
ended catch and release, which was -- the policy used to be in the
United States that you found an illegal immigrant in the country, and
you released them back to their country -- I'm sorry, you released them
into our country, and they were supposed to come and show up for a court
date. Of course they weren't showing up for their court dates, and we
have effectively ended that process, and several other steps like that,
as well.

So in addition, I would point to the work site enforcement pieces of
this that we have been trying to do across the country. And some of the
most important things in this package of 26 different items today is
that the President is trying to assist employers, to make sure that they
know what they need to do in order to identify whether or not an
individual is actually a citizen of the United States and should be
here, legally working. Right now you can use 29 different documents in
order to identify somebody. I think that through that work at the
Department of Homeland Security, they're going to work with employers to
make that more streamlined. In the news this week has been the no-match
rule. This has been a rulemaking that's been ongoing, again outside of
congressional action, that will be finalized today. Rulemakings take a
little bit longer than executive orders sometimes because of the public
comment periods. But that finalized today.

And then I would also point to a couple of interesting things -- this is
on the fourth page of the fact sheet that we just released, which is on
assimilation -- one of the things that we'll be able to do
independently, that we wanted to do in the legislation and we'll do it
within the boundaries of the current law -- all of these issues that
we're taking on today we're doing within the boundaries of the current
law. So we're going as far as we possibly can without Congress acting.

But the ones I would point out to you are the Office of Citizenship.
They're going to be revising the naturalization test. Different regions
had different tests. We're going to get those streamlined and focus on
the fundamentals of democracy. And also the Department of Education is
going to have a new website that they developed, that helps immigrants
who are here to learn English so that they can start the assimilation
process and become citizens of the United States.

Q But can't we just go back to the premise of that? You've just laid
out a whole series of steps that the administration thinks will improve
enforcement of immigration. But the public has been hearing for so long
now that this system is broken and the law is broken. So is that still
the administration's position, that the law is badly broken?

MS. PERINO: The President would have liked to have seen comprehensive
immigration reform completed by the Congress. Short of that, the
President asked his administration to look at what within the current
law can we do through the executive branch that builds upon the
initiatives, or creates new initiatives that we can implement before the
end of the -- before the end of the President's term. So he would still
liked to have seen comprehensive immigration reform, but the Congress
said that they're clearly not going to be able to act on it.

Q Why didn't he do this a year-and-a-half or two ago, when this whole
debate started?

MS. PERINO: Well, I think if you look at these individual issues, many
of these things are ones that were, one, either being considered and
underway. For example, the issue with the no-match rule was something
that was also in the legislation, but something that the administration
had started with a proposed rulemaking and the public comment period and
all the bells and whistles that go along with a rulemaking.

But remember we were also in an extended debate with the Congress and we
were trying to get a full package together so that we could have all
these issues addressed comprehensively. And that didn't happen. So
these are things that we can do administratively without the Congress.

Q The debate precluded the President's ability to act on this stuff?

MS. PERINO: No, if you go back and you look at many of these things --
like I just said, the President acted on border security prior to the
congressional debate heating up this year. And actually the year
before; I remember being on the trip -- many of you were probably with
us when he went and announced that we were going to send the National
Guard down to the border to help the Border Patrol agents. And that's
been a successful endeavor.

Q Does this mean the administration has given up on comprehensive
immigration reform?

MS. PERINO: Look, I think that we have to be realistic about what this
Congress is going to be willing to do. I think that the leaders in
Congress have decided that this is not something that they're going to
take up. And so I think the President, while he would like to have seen
comprehensive immigration reform, does not believe that the Congress
will be able to get that done.

Q How concerned is the President about the recent sharp declines in
the financial markets globally? Is he worried that this is going to
affect the U.S. economy adversely? Any steps that he's considering?

MS. PERINO: Well, you heard from the President yesterday. What I can
say from here is that what the President said and what the President is
briefed on is that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. There is
-- the Federal Reserve, which is an independent institution that we
greatly respect, and we are not going to comment from the White House on
any of its activities or actions, but I can assure you that there are
many of the President's advisors who are keeping a very close eye on all
the market activity, and making sure that policies are put in place to
keep our economy strong and growing.

Q Is the President himself keeping a close eye on the market
activity?

MS. PERINO: Well, just remember that the President on Wednesday spent
several hours at the Treasury Department. In addition to the briefings
that he gets regularly, he had an annual briefing with his economic
advisors, and that took place just two days ago.

Q Right, but I'm wondering if from here, given that there are so many
fluctuations --

MS. PERINO: I can assure you that on any issue, especially an issue
like this, that the President would get regular updates.

Q Are you going to have a -- some kind of further policy announcement
on the situation with regard to the real estate market, or the broader
situation with regard to --

MS. PERINO: I am not aware of a new policy -- any policy development
that's underway would be something I'm not aware of. That doesn't mean
that at the agencies that they aren't thinking about it. You know,
especially on the housing issue, I'd refer you to somebody like a Brian
Montgomery, over at the Federal Housing Authority. He's an expert on
those issues, especially for individuals who are worried about the
possibility of losing their homes. The FHA is a great place and a great
resource for those people. Anyone who feels that they were lied to when
they got into one of their -- into their mortgage, there are laws that
protect them. Any of those laws that were broken would be vigorously
pursued.

Q The President acknowledged that a correction is underway. I wonder
if you'd help us understand what he means by a "soft landing"?

MS. PERINO: I'm going to defer to Tony Fratto who was there with the
President all day Wednesday at the Treasury Department. He's our
economic expert in our office. He's back in Washington today, and he
said that on any of these technical questions regarding all these
financial issues -- it's just not appropriate for me to talk about them,
not knowing them. And, especially, there are some issues regarding
financial markets that I cannot talk about from the podium, as you well
know.

Q Was there any discussion of canceling the lunch tomorrow, since
Sarkozy had to go back to France?

MS. PERINO: I didn't -- not that I know of, no. I believe that we were
-- the White House was informed that President Sarkozy would be
returning to France for the funeral, but intended to return for his
lunch with the President and Mrs. Bush. The President and Mrs. Bush, of
course, would understand if circumstances came to be that he couldn't
attend, but I don't believe that that's the intention. I think that
they're all planning on having a good lunch tomorrow.

The President has a lot of family with him up here at Walker's Point,
and so they're looking forward to a casual lunch. The President -- this
will be the President's third meeting with President Sarkozy. They had
a very good meeting in Heiligendamm. For those of you that were there
at the G8, you might remember that. It was there at the G8 that the
President and Mrs. Bush realized that the Sarkozys would be nearby for
their vacation time, and had the idea that if their time up here in New
England were to overlap, that it would be a good idea for the two
families -- for the couples to get together. I think President Bush 41
and Mrs. Barbara Bush are wonderful hosts here at Walker's Point. And I
think that the Sarkozys are probably in for a real treat to be able to
get to meet all of the family, including some of the children.

Q What will they talk about, do you think?

MS. PERINO: Again, it's a casual lunch, and so they could talk about
any range of issues. As when any world leader gets together with
another, there's a possibility that they could discuss business.
Obviously we're working very closely with France right now on a range of
issues, including -- and especially at the U.N. Security Council, on
issues in Lebanon and Sudan and Iran. I can't tell you for sure that
those issues are going to come up, but as world leaders, they could talk
about a range of issues, including the President's climate change
conference that he's holding the end of September, of which France was
invited.

Q Is the lunch just the two First Families?

MS. PERINO: I'll see if there's anything additional I can give you. I
believe that that's -- I think it's just family. There's no other
government officials going to be there.

Q It's just the President and the First Lady and Sarkozy and his
wife?

MS. PERINO: No, I think the extended Bush family I think will be at the
lunch as well.

Q How many people is that?

MS. PERINO: I don't know. I'll see if I can get you any more specifics
on it.

Q Do they plan to take him out on the boat, and will photographers be
allowed out there to take pictures?

MS. PERINO: We'll keep you updated. Obviously, Bush 41, when he has an
opportunity to bring people up to Walker's Point that's often something
that takes place. But I can't tell you for sure, but if it happens
we'll make sure you get updated about that.

Q And one of the -- the President has not hosted any of his
counterparts in Crawford for a very long time. Is it -- does he think
that Kennebunkport is more appropriate now to host Mr. Putin or Mr.
Sarkozy --

MS. PERINO: No, no, no. I can't remember when the last time that there
was a foreign leader in Crawford, but I don't feel like it was that long
ago. The Putin visit was also a very good visit. That was, again, a
meeting where geography helped in terms of a confluence of events where
President Putin was flying, I believe, from Canada down to Latin
America, and the President thought it would be a good idea to invite him
up here when he was on his way. So I think that's just a coincidence.

Q Last foreign leader in Crawford was Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, in May.

MS. PERINO: That wasn't so long ago.

Q I was talking about counterparts.

Q And then in 2005, Uribe.

MS. PERINO: Like Uribe?

Q Yes, in August of '05.

MS. PERINO: Okay. Not long. Thank goodness for Mark Knoller.

Q In August?

MS. PERINO: I don't know, is that an invitation you would want?

Q No, no thank you.

MS. PERINO: Go ahead, Ben.

Q Just to follow up on, it seems like the White House is emphasizing
the fact that this is more of a social get-together, and a private one
at that.

MS. PERINO: Because it is.

Q Well, I'm wondering why the leaders might not make some comments
after, given the fact that it is their first meeting like this and a lot
of their constituents would be eager to hear how the meeting went.

MS. PERINO: I know that there's always an appetite for more and more
information. The invitation from the President and Mrs. Bush to the
Sarkozys was one for a nice casual lunch during the Sarkozys' vacation.
It is not considered to be a working lunch. But I can't tell you that
they wouldn't talk about issues. And to the extent that I could get
some sort of readout, if they don't make comment, I will provide it.
But I just would set your expectations low on that.

Q What's on the menu?

MS. PERINO: Menu. I'll see if I can get a menu.

Q How long are they going to meet actually there, the Sarkozys?

MS. PERINO: I think at least 90 minutes.

Q Dana, can you talk at all about some of the President's other
activities while he's here? He's here for a wedding. Will he attend
the wedding -- ceremony, reception?

MS. PERINO: The only thing I can tell you there is that there is a
wedding of close family friends up here in Maine. I don't have an
update to the President's schedule. If that changes, we will certainly
let you know if there is going to be a movement. And those of you in
the pool will get to ride in the motorcade.

Q Tomorrow?

MS. PERINO: It's tomorrow.

Q In the evening? Wedding is in the evening?

MS. PERINO: I think so, because the President has a lunch in the
afternoon.

Okay, great. Thanks, everyone.

END 11:32 A.M. EDT

*The President on May 15, 2006 announced that he would increase the size
of the border patrol by 6,000 new agents, doubling the size of the
Border Patrol during his presidency by taking the total number of agents
to over 18,000. Today, August 10, 2007, the Administration announced an
increase of an additional 1,700 agents to bring the border patrol agent
commitment to 20,000 in 2009.